guitar advice needed!

Hi Denis!
          It all depends: if you want to play like Pete in the early days,
consider to buy a Rickenbacker 6 or 12 strings with a AC30 Vox amp.

>Pros: brilliant sound, absolute satisfaction, feeling mod much more than
>Blur, very easy to smash.
>Cons: hysteric wife in three days, no more little birds on your balcony,
>worried neighbourhood, very easy to smash.

If you prefer the period from Tommy to Quadrophenia: Gibson SG (even a
second hand vintage) Hi-watt or Marshall amp.

>Pros: warm sound I'm sure you know, membership in the club "We Want To
>Break The World Record Of Repeating Pinball Wizard's Wonderful Electric
>Riff", sensation of being seen, felt, touched and healed everytime you
>look even at your guitar case.

>Cons: hysteric wife in three hours, no more dogs and cats around your
>house (even lawyers, but that's an absolute PRO), neighbourhood near to
>call/calling the police (it depends if you sing playing "Cousin Kevin").

For more recent periods, the guitar and the amps don't change. You could
change your strings: Pete for gigs used to play a gauge with a .012 as
little E.

That means you need a strong team work between your arm and your wrist to
play anything, and if you play the bowling-windmill style you'll be covered
with blood if you hit the string and even if you miss them. So you can tell
your wife to be ready with a camera to make your own version of the famous
picture of Pete with the bleeding hand!

>Pros: wife with a new artistic interest, Rock'n'Roll Hands, sounding more
>scaring than the Sonic Youth (if just let yourself go)
>Cons: Nothing. The volume will make you deaf, dumb and your wife blind:
>she didn't realize she's married with Pete Townshend!

I'm sorry I can't give you advice for prices: here in Italy it's a bad
situation - too high (hope where you live your budget is enough, but...). I
bought my guit... ehm... my DC9 of third hand but... I can see for miles
when I'm on it. Hope it will be the same for you (and your wise wife).

Let us all know how will it end!                        Mauro